The game will give a chance to witness the leadership skills of the two young captains. While the Delhi Capitals played the second round of the tournament in 2019, which happened after 7 IPL seasons, the Kings XI Punjab is yet to make it to the playoffs as it has been five years since their runners-up finish in 2014. KXIP is one of only three teams, along with RCB and Delhi Capitals, who are yet to lay their hands on the IPL trophy.
Kings XI Punjab will look for a fresh start this year with a new captain. Dashing India opener KL Rahul will lead the KXIP after Ravichandran Ashwin was traded for Delhi Capitals’ Jagadeesha Suchith last year. It will be interesting to see how Rahul goes about his captaincy duties, especially considering he is one of the key batsmen in the team.
With new recruits in the team, Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, James Neesham, Deepak Hooda, Ravi Bishnoi, Chris Jordan, and young pacer Ishan Porel the squad looks powerful. Maxwell’s inclusion is sure to bolster their middle order. Cotrell and Neesham meanwhile will shore up their pace bowling attack.
Speaking about Delhi Capitals, they have been bolstered with the presence of R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane. Iyer will have a tough job while picking playing XI as both Ashwin and Rahane are former captains and would want a spot in the side. While Ashwin is likely to lead the spin attack throughout the season, there might be no place for Rahane in every game.
The likes of Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, and Rishabh Pant are automatic selections in the playing XI. It remains to be seen if the franchise can accommodate Shimron Hetmyer in the playing XI. He was bought by DC for Rs 7.75 crore.
Ishant will be leading DC's pace attack and will be assisted by Kagiso Rabada. Given his all-round skills, Harshal Patel also likely to part of the playing XI.
TOSS: The IPL 2020 match toss between Delhi Capitals vs Kings XI Punjab will take place at 7 PM (IST) – September 20.
Time: 7.30 PM IST
Venue: Dubai
Squads
Delhi Capitals
Shreyas Iyer (C), Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Mohit Sharma, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Ravi Ashwin, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, Rishabh Pant, Alex Carey, Shimron Hetmyer and Tushar Deshpande
Kings XI Punjab
KL Rahul (C), Karun Nair, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Hardus Viljoen, Darshan Nalkande, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin, K Gowtham, J Suchith, Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, James Neesham, Chris Jordan, Tajinder Dhillon, Prabhsimran Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin